Since the dens is part of the Axis vertebra (and project up in the first vertebra, the Atlas vertebra that supports the skull) it is called the Dens Axis. In the form of capital punishment execution called "drop hanging" where the victim falls a few meters /yards through a trap door and then is suddenly stopped when the noose rope is stretched the den most often is fractured seriously harming the medulla oblongata which is very close to it leading to the quick death of the victim.